I'd do anything to make my daughter better

The mother of a seriously ill girl says she understands what the Kings did

Cheryl McCann is married to Patrick, and they live in Dromore, Co Down. The couple have three children – Callum (11), Ryan (6) and Carly (5). Cheryl explains how Carly's illness means she knows exactly how the Kings are feeling about their son's illness, and why she believes any parent would go to the ends of the earth to save their child.

Cheryl McCann is married to Patrick, and they live in Dromore, Co Down. The couple have three children – Callum (11), Ryan (6) and Carly (5). Cheryl explains how Carly's illness means she knows exactly how the Kings are feeling about their son's illness, and why she believes any parent would go to the ends of the earth to save their child.

She says: "Carly was born with a life-threatening condition called Deletion of Chromosome 3.

"This has affected the whole family tremendously over the years, as Carly has been in and out of hospital countless times. Her condition is so rare that she is only the sixth person in the world to have it.

"I know how the Kings must have felt when their son was in Southampton and they felt he wasn't getting the proper treatment.

"There are many times when we have been in hospital, anxious about Carly and having difficult decisions to make.

"Carly recently had to go to Birmingham for major surgery to have a stent put in her heart. We were told we could either enjoy what time we had with Carly, or try the operation.

"We have to fight for her as there is no one else to do it, so we opted for the operation to give her some sort of chance. Thankfully, it worked.

"Due to the rarity of Carly's illness, there are no studies to show life expectancy for someone with this illness, so we don't know how long we will have Carly. It all depends on her heart.

"But we will always do what we can to help her. If someone told me there was a chance of a cure, or a treatment that would help Carly somewhere in the world, I would be on the plane in the morning.

"I would pay any money, or do anything, to save my daughter.

"Carly is too young to understand how ill she is, which is a good thing. She never questions why her, or why she has to have so many operations.

"She has had eight in total in her wee short life. Every time we anxiously wait to see if she would be okay.

"I do trust the doctors and the medical team who look after Carly, but she is my daughter and I would go to the ends of the earth and do anything it took to make her better and keep her with us.

"She is doing well at the moment and has just started P1 at Donard Special School in Banbridge and she loves it.